What do you look for in a quest mod?

[wjHarnish]

Hey community, I was wondering what you expect in quest mods? Or asked another way, what would make the perfect quest mod in your opinion? Voice acting? Continuing Vanilla story lines? Any category I haven't yet mentioned?

Quick side note, if a quest mod extends the vanilla story line, what would you expect from NPCs that were involved in the original quest? Every time they speak would it be subtitles or would you get a new voice actor who could sound similar?

[unclereemus]

Voice is a must, quality is so-so important, but not as much as having voice. It's the very basis of creating an atmosphere to your mod.

The story is also important, the best quest mods are the mods that adds something new and fresh to the game, an idea that has never been used before.

Edited September 16, 2012 by unclereemus

[lilith]

A good story, one that engages the mind and keeps it thinking. I can find epic battles anywhere so "boss fights" are not what gain my download and also voice acting is not important to me if a story is well told and engaging. The story can expand a vanilla quest line or be completely new, but it must be well told and engaging.

I would also think it would be rather unsettling or even jarring to the senses to encounter a known NPC who doesn't sound exactly the same as one recalls.

Bottom line for me, it's all about the story.

[Hanaisse]

What lilith said sums it up my thoughts exactly. A good engaging story is what it's all about, whether it's continuing an existing quest line or not.

And I'd rather there not be any voice acting at all if it means applying it to existing characters.

[Khettienna]

For me, voice acting can really add to a quest mod if it's done well, can take away if it's done poorly, and isn't explicitly necessary. But that aside, the story is what matters most to me. Whatever tasks I've been given, I want good reasons to be doing them - something in it for me (self-preservation counts), or something in it for someone or some cause that I can't help but care about. This means I need characters who are deep enough to empathize with, and to like or dislike. It means I need a genuine and relevant conflict to solve, and I need to be the one to solve it. It means the conflict can't be mundane - there has so be some tension, some suspense, some dread, something. A quest mod that just chains you through one dungeon level and boss after another for a non-humanity-related reason might is just a mis-categorized dungeon mod; a quest mod that gives you three hours of compelling gameplay without requiring you to draw your weapon could still legitimately be a quest mod.

I guess that's my long-winded way of saying: STORY!

[Lanceor]

WIIFM - "What's in it for me?"

There was once a writer who said that to get audience attention, you have to address the question in the reader's head - "What's in it for me?" Saving a damsel in distress or recovering a McGuffin is all well and good, but after the quest, nothing has changed for the player or the character. Even if the quest was rip-roaring fun, there's nothing to motivate the player to start it.

For small quests, the quest reward is usually the carrot. To make the carrot as large as possible, this reward has to be desirable, lasting and balanced. Glenvar Castle used a very nice Castle as the reward, and is something that the player will use for a long time but didn't turn them into the king of the world or somesuch. Anduril Reforged gave a weapon that was pleasant to use, had powers that were useful in dungeons (glowing light) and would level with the player.

For larger quests though, one carrot isn't enough, Through story-telling, you have to find ways to make the WIIFM factor bigger and bigger until the player feels that getting the quest completed becomes the most important thing in the world to him/her.

I'll use Knights of the Nine: Revelation as an example of a large quest. All of this is huge spoiler material.

Part of the purpose of the description, trailer and advertising for KOTN:R was to dangle an important carrot in front of the player - Crusader's Relics upgrades.

When they download the mod, their expectations is that they'd fetch a few McGuffins and BAM! Power Up! Indeed, the early stages of the questline are fairly typical fetch quests that feed that expectation.

Motivation for the player.

1. Cool new itamz
   
2. Maybe some fun adventures (this is a weak motivation as there are many good adventure mods to choose from)
   

Just as the player is about to get a bite of the carrot, Gareth screws the player over and steals the Crusader's Relics. Instead of providing the anticipated gratification of a power-up, the mod just multiplied the WIIFM factor:

1. I want my Relics back!
   
2. I still want those cool new itamz!
   
3. I want to kick that SOB Gareth's arse!
   

So the player tries to apprehend Gareth and instead gets thrown into the First Era. Later, Gareth tries to change history by paralysing Pelinal, allowing Umaril to win (which threatens the player's existence). And he kills off an NPC that the player has probably become rather attached to. AND the player is stuck 4,000 years in the past. The motivation to get those Relic upgrades originally promised has been fulfilled, but the player is now desperate to recover everything that was taken away. Towards the end of the questline, the motivations for the player will be something like the following:

1. I need to get back to the future!
   
2. Cyrodiil is royally screwed up! I've got to save the Empire!
   
3. Me and the Knights of the Nine are hunted criminals. This is bad good!
   
4. That SOB Gareth is SOOOO gonna pay for stealing and destroying my Crusader's Relics.
   
5. That SOB Gareth is SOOOO gonna pay for murdering Naomi.
   
6. That SOB Gareth is SOOOO gonna pay for trying to change the course of history.
   
7. Some cool new itamz would be nice.
   

Importantly, there has to be some successes along the way, otherwise the questline becomes a demotivating string of failures. In KOTN:R, the relics are recovered and visibly upgraded fairly early, a new world is presented to the player to explore, and he takes part in some famous events in history. But closing off a motivation must not occur before new motivations have been set up and established.

Other notes:

I feel that voice acting is important. It is an annoying, fidgety step that theoretically adds very little to the mod. However, it creates the perception that this is a quality mod where the modder has stopped at nothing to make it as complete as possible.

My $0.02.

[SenorCinco]

What i think is the single most important aspect of a truly epic questline, is variety. By that I mean choice. It can be a great story, but most questlines are just an...electronic book.

I want choice, in dialog. I want those choices to be available pending my character's...

• Race
  
• Gender
  
• Skills
  
• Accomplishments of my character thus far
  
• Their clothes and or armor
  
• The weapon they are carrying
  
• What they have in their current inventory
  
• Reputation
  
• The dialog choices made thus far in a conversation
  

I want choice on how to start a quest.

I want choice on who to side with during a quest.

I want choice in how to complete a quest.

I want multiple branches that will lead to multiple endings.

If these elements are not implemented, you are just going through the motions of reading an electronic book. One that has the pages turned by the exhaustion of dialog. Which, in turn, has no affect on the story one way or the other. That is not dialog choice. It's dialog advancement.

I want choice and consequence.